The west shore., June 01, 1884, Page 165, Image 3

THE WEST SHORE.
165
them a magnificent opera house, to cost upwards of
$100,000. An elegant building is now being erected by
the Safe Deposit Company, at an expense of $75,000.
It stands on Front street, at the corner of Cherry, and
will be ready for occupation by the 1st of January. The
basement will be devoted to safe deposit uses, being
entered through the interior of the room above, occupied
by the Merchants' National Bank, thus avoiding the
publicity and hazard of a street entrance. No expenso
has been spared in the construction of the vault to ensure
its safety under all circumstances. It will be supplied
with several hundred steel safes, fitted with locks of most
improved construction, and which can "be opened by
owners alone. Hall's Safe and Lock Company, of Cin
cinnati, have the contract for making the vault and safes
a guarantee that everything will be done for security that
skill and money can produce. Attached to the vault will
be spacious and well lighted parlors, where patrons may
examine their deposits at leisure and without interrup
tion. The face of this building will be of San Jose
pressed brick and stone. The room devoted to the use
of the Merchants' National Bank will be fitted up in the
most tasteful manner. Many other substantial brick
structures are being erected, taking the place of frame
buildings which were built at a time when it was impos
sible to procure a sufficient quantity of brick. Dearth of
proper building materials has been a serious inconven
ience, but that time is happily now past, and the frame
structures are now rapidly disappearing before the
onward marcli of brick. To look at the row after row of
those solid brick blocks, one would scarcely think that two
years ago their sites were occupied by cheap frame edi
fices or were vacant, yet such is the fact, and two yeare
more will witness a still greater change in this respect
In the number and value of her manufacturing enter
prises Seattle stands pre-eminent in the Territory, and
this is one of the greatest elements of her prosiwrity.
The majority of these, as is the case universally in the
cities and towns of Puget Sound, are engaged in utilizing
the wealth of timber that covers the whole face of the
country from the Cascades to the Pacific. This magnifi
cent body of timber, which is the admiration of lumber
men, is the one resource of the many in this region which
is being extensively developed It is unnecessary to
describe these dense forests whoso fame has become
widespread. There are, according to the estimate of
timber men, 160,000,000,000 feet of standing timber in
the Puget Sound region, and the mills cut last year alxmt
500,000,000 feet At this rate it would take 320 years to
exhaust the supply; and though the amount cut increases
annually there is timber enough for many years to coma
The character of this great inland sea, stretching udt its
arms in all directions, is such as to give this vast forest a
frontage upon the water for many hundreds of miles,
facilitating the handling of logs, which are made up into
rafts and towed to any desired point on the Sound This
peculiarity renders it unnecessary that the mill should be
near the logging camp, since the distance towed is of
slight consequence. It U b3tter to have the lumber pro-
duced near a great shipping point or extensive local
market , These considerations are at work to make of
Seattle the best point for the location of sawmills, since
her shipping facilities are unrivaled, and the enormous
IoohI demand cmnt nn nctivo wnrkrt. A brif ft"t
ment of the character and product of the loading indus
tries will show how extensive and important they are.
The sawmill and sash and door factory of McDonald
& Roitao employs twenty innii. The mill alone has a
daily capacity of 22,000 foot of lumber and 20,001) shin
gles. In 18811, besides what was used by themselves in
tilling largo building contracts, 1,(XH),000 foot of lumlwr,
5,000,000 shingles and $3,000 worth of sash and doors
were sold in the local market
The mill of Stetson & Post cut 14,000,000 foot of
lumber in 1881). In and alxuit their large mill and the
sash and door factory 117 mon are employed, and sixty
men in the logging camps. Their lalor pay roll was
$72,000. During the year they built the tug Quern C
for towing logs and freighting supplies to the logging
camps.
The sawmill of the Columbia & Puget Sound Rail
road Company had last year a daily capacity of 20,000
feet, and gave employment to twenty-one men. In the
sash and door factory connected with it fourteen mon
were employed. To take the place of this mill a new one,
with a capacity of (10,000 feet, has lxon constructed by
the Oregon Improvement Company, having a large wood
working factory in the hpcoiwI story.
The mill belonging to II. L Yoslor and John Ander
son cuts 20,000 feet of IuiiiImt per day. The firm
employs forty-five men in the mill and yard, and sixteen
in the sash and door factory. The total cut in 188!) was
7,000,(X)0 feet of rough lumlcr.
A mill owned by the Seattle Lumlior and Commercial
Company cut 13,(XX),00() feet of lumber in 18811, and has
a cutting capacity in ten hours of 35,01k) foot The com
pany's pay roll amounted to $75,000, employment being
given to eighty men. A largo quantity of sash, doors,
moldingsretc, were turned out at this mill, twenty-five
men lwing employed in this branch of the business. The
mill also produces 10,000 laths daily.
The Michigan Mill Company was incorporated lato in
the spring of 1883, and built a mill having a daily capa
city of 30,000 foot Twenty-fivo men wore carried on tho
pay roll A sash ami door department has Men added
this spring, and with a doubling of tho cutting capacity
will largely increase the product of the mill the present
year.
Tho plant of the Western Mill Company consisU of a
sawmill, with a daily capacity of 35,(XX) foot of lumlwr
and 12,000 laths, and a sash and door factory, located in
the second! story of the building. The monthly pay roll
of the company is alxmt $2,500.
A mill, with a capacity of 10,000 foot was erected in
1883 by O. C. Phinney on Lake Washington. Like tho
majority of the mills, this one furnishes lumber chiefly
for buildings in the vicinity where the mill is located
I The shingle mill of Meriwether & Fredericks pro.